The Testimony of the Night

-Prince Tunde Aiyekooto

What belongs to the night is of the night.

We live in a country that loves daylight performances. In the morning we hold press conferences, we cut ribbons, we swear oaths, we quote the constitution. But every journalist who has covered this land knows — Nigeria is governed at night.

The money shared at night. The ballot written at night. The betrayal agreed at night.

And we pretend that sunrise cleanses it. It does not.

The day does not contradict the night. The day only reaffirms the testimony of the night. If a mandate was stolen in the night, no daylight inauguration will make it legitimate. If wealth was looted in the night, no daylight philanthropy will make it honest.

This is why truth-telling matters. Our job is not to report the day’s noise. Our job is to bring the microphone to the night and let it testify.